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Did You VoteOrNot.org?
WhiskerBiscuit writes "The boys at Am I Hot or Not have started a sweepstakes to encourage people to register to vote. According to this blogger's analysis, the contest should encourage disempowered people to register (subject to the constraint that poor people don't have computers). The organizers have cleverly split the prize between a lucky winner and whoever happens to have referred them, providing a selection advantage for viral dispersal of the meme."
In a nutshell, we're doing this because we care, and because we can. We also like the idea of doing this because nobody else has done it before, and we like to do crazy, new things.
Plenty of institutions (MTV and the Republicans immediately come to mind) have done what they can to get people out to vote. I suppose in this day and age we basically have to coerce people into signing up to vote (which is exactly what the Hot or Not guys are doing).
My question is why do we have to coerce people to vote? Is it because popular opinion doesn't matter? Is it because of possible cheating at the polls? Is it because people just don't give a fuck?
Personally I believe it to be a mix of quite a few factors but I lean quite a bit towards not giving a fuck and it not mattering.
Perhaps part of the standardized testing that GWB has mandated should include more emphasis on Civic Duty? Perhaps they should better explain why it is important to vote even though we have a broken/antequated system that is unnecessary in this day and age. Fuck, perhaps we should just eliminate the entire Election system as it is and reinstate it as an episode of Survivor or American Idol.
Text message your votes now! Standard SMS rates apply!
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
much like the free ...hooker
I need this URL...for a friend.
Me too, on my birthday. I'm still voting, but am considerably less hot. Or not.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
Vote Cthulhu! Why settle for the lesser of two evils?
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
Doesn't conflict. They only need the info to contact you if you win. Their sponsor needs it to send you spam.
What they should have done was offer Free iPods or FlatScreen TV's... Then they'd have it spammed all over Slashdot and the rest of the world! =)
Right is wrong when left is right.
I'm one of the people who has been registered since 18 y/o, and voted in every election.
Do I get a f*cking prize?
This reminds me of a very old Dilbert:
Dilbert: ...and people who don't bother to vote have no right to complain.
Dogbert: Why not?
Dilbert: Why not? It's obvious. No vote means no right to complain. You can't get much more logical than that. Besides, that's how I was raised.
Dogbert: You were raised by bumper stickers?
Show me on the doll where his noodly appendage touched you.
As for the rest, yes I vote on local and federal issues that I am knowledable about, however I'm prety sure that the topic of discussion is the presidental race which I will not participate in in case the guy I voted for wins making me partially responsible for their crimes.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
"This is the grammar police. You're under arrest for failure to use an apostrophe in a contraction. You have the right to use proper grammar or be silent. If you refuse this right..."
Regexes are like cocaine. The first hit is pretty good, but afterwards you try to use them to solve all your problems.
The 6 people who live there know each other anyway - registering would serve no purpose.
A fine is a tax you pay for doing wrong and a tax is a fine you pay for doing all right.
I need this URL...for a friend.
www.[your-sister's-name-here].com
Sorry - not poking at you specifically - just couldn't resist the lure of the comic opportunity,... ;-)
Now we know Ralph Nader's /. id!
Good luck Nader!
Way to slip in the referrer code. And get modded +5. Purely brilliant.
Shh!!! One mustn't question The Cooling Power Of The Window. Society is all based on The Cooling Power Of The Window! Sure, there's no evidence to support the idea that rolling down the window helps, and in fact there's lots of evidence to the contrary, but... would our founding fathers have suggested The Cooling Power Of The Window if it didn't work?
Be a good citizen and roll down your window. Sure, it doesn't do anything -- it may even make it hotter, but you don't want to disturb the status quo, do you?